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By the mid-1970s, Knopfler devoted much of his musical energies to his group, the Caf\u00e9 Racers. His brother David moved to London, where he shared a flat with John Illsley, a guitarist who changed over to playing bass guitar. In April 1977, Mark moved out of his flat in Buckhurst Hill and moved in with David and John. The three began playing music together, and soon Mark invited John to join the Caf\u00e9 Racers.<\/p>\n
Dire Straits’ first demos were recorded in three sessions in 1977, with David Knopfler as rhythm guitarist, John Illsley as bass guitarist, and Pick Withers as drummer. On 27 July 1977 they recorded the demo tapes of five songs: “Wild West End,” “Sultans of Swing,” “Down to the Waterline,” “Sacred Loving” (a David Knopfler song), and “Water of Love.” They later recorded “Southbound Again,” “In the Gallery,” and “Six Blade Knife” for BBC Radio London\u2014and, finally, on 9 November, made demo tapes of “Setting Me Up,” “Eastbound Train,” and “Real Girl.” Many of these songs reflect Knopfler’s experiences in Newcastle, Leeds, and London, and were featured on their first album, the eponymous Dire Straits, which was released in the following year: “Down to the Waterline” recalled images of life in Newcastle; “In The Gallery” is a tribute to a Leeds sculptor and artist named Harry Phillips (father of Steve Phillips); and “Lions,” “Wild West End,” and “Eastbound Train” were all drawn from Knopfler’s early days in the capital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1979<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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On its initial release, the album Dire Straits received little fanfare in the UK, but when “Sultans of Swing” was released as a single, it became a chart hit in the Netherlands and album sales took off \u2013 first across Europe, and then in the United States and Canada, and finally the UK. The group’s second album, Communiqu\u00e9, produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, followed in 1979.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1980<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Their third album, Making Movies, released in 1980, moved towards more complex arrangements and production, which continued for the remainder of the group’s career. The album included many of Mark Knopfler’s most personal compositions, most notably “Romeo and Juliet” and “Tunnel of Love.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1982<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The studio album which followed was Love Over Gold, released in 1982. This featured the tracks “Private Investigations,” “Telegraph Road,” “Industrial Disease,” “It Never Rains,” and “Love Over Gold” (Dire Straits song) the title track of the album.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1983<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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With Love Over Gold still in the albums charts, the band released a four-song EP titled ExtendedancEPlay in early 1983. Featuring the hit single “Twisting by the Pool\u201d, this was the first output by the band that featured new drummer Terry Williams, (formerly of Rockpile and Man), who had replaced Pick Withers in November 1982. An eight month long Love over Gold Tour followed which finished with two sold-out concerts at London’s Hammersmith Odeon on 22 and 23 July 1983. In March 1984 the double album Alchemy Live was released, which documented the recordings of these final two live shows. It was also released in VHS video and reached number three in the UK Albums Chart, and was reissued in DVD and Blu-ray format in 2010.<\/p>\n
During 1983 and 1984, Knopfler was involved with other projects as well, including writing and producing the music score to the film Local Hero, which was a great success, and it was followed in 1984 by his scores for the films Cal and Comfort and Joy. Also during this time Knopfler produced Bob Dylan’s Infidels album, as well as Knife by Aztec Camera. He also wrote the song “Private Dancer” for Tina Turner’s comeback album of the same name.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1985<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Dire Straits’ biggest studio album by far was their fifth, Brothers in Arms, recorded at Air Studios Montserrat and released in May 1985. It became an international blockbuster that has now sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and is the fourth best selling album in UK chart history. Brothers in Arms spawned several chart singles including the US # 1 hit “Money for Nothing”, which was the first video played on MTV in Britain. It was also the first compact disc to sell a million copies and is largely credited for launching the CD format as it was also one of the first DDD CDs ever released. Other successful singles were “So Far Away”, “Walk of Life”, and the album’s title track. The band embarked on a 1985\u20131986 Brothers in Arms world tour of over 230 shows which was immensely successful.<\/p>\n
Knopfler is left-handed, but plays the guitar right-handed. In its review of Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms in 1985, Spin commented: “Mark Knopfler may be the most lyrical of all rock guitarists.” In the same year, Rolling Stone commended his “evocative” guitar style. According to Classic Rock in 2018: “The bare-boned economy of Knopfler’s songs and his dizzying guitar fills were a breath of clean air amid the lumbering rock dinosaurs and one-dimensional punk thrashers of the late 70s. He was peerless as craftsman and virtuoso, able to plug into rock’s classic lineage and bend it to sometimes wild forms. He wrote terrific songs, too: taut mini-dramas of dark depths and dazzling melodic and lyrical flourishes.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1987<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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After the Brothers in Arms world tour Dire Straits ceased to work together for some time, Knopfler concentrating mainly on film soundtracks. Knopfler joined the charity ensemble Ferry Aid on “Let It Be” in the wake of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster. The song reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart in March 1987. Knopfler wrote the music score for the film The Princess Bride, released at the end of 1987.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1988<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Dire Straits regrouped for 11 June 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium, in which they were the headline act, and were accompanied by Elton John and Eric Clapton, who by this time had developed a strong friendship with Knopfler. Shortly after this, drummer Terry Williams left the band. In September 1988 Mark Knopfler announced the official dissolution of Dire Straits, saying that he “needed a rest”. In October 1988, a compilation album, Money for Nothing, was released and reached number one in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
In addition to his work in Dire Straits and solo, Knopfler has made several contributions to country music. In 1988 he formed country-focused band the Notting Hillbillies, with Guy Fletcher, Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. The Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, Missing…Presumed Having a Good Time was released in 1990 and featured the minor hit single “Your Own Sweet Way”. Knopfler further emphasised his country music influences with his collaboration with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck, which was also released in 1990. “Poor Boy Blues”, taken from that collaboration, peaked at No. 92.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1989<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In 1989, Knopfler formed the Notting Hillbillies, a band at the other end of the commercial spectrum. It leaned heavily towards American roots music \u2013 folk, blues and country music. The band members included keyboardist Guy Fletcher, with Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. For both the album and the tour Paul Franklin was added to the line-up on pedal steel. The Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, Missing…Presumed Having a Good Time was released in 1990, and Knopfler then toured with the Notting Hillbillies for the remainder of that year. He further emphasised his country music influences with his 1990s collaboration with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck, which won three Grammy awards. The Hillbillies toured the UK in early 1990 with a limited number of shows. In this low-key tour the band packed out smaller venues such as Newcastle University.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1990<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In 1990, Knopfler, John Illsley, and Alan Clark performed as Dire Straits at Knebworth, joined by Eric Clapton, Ray Cooper, and guitarist Phil Palmer (who was at that time part of Eric Clapton’s touring band), and in January the following year, Knopfler, John Illsley and manager Ed Bicknell decided to reform Dire Straits. Knopfler, Illsley, Alan Clark, and Guy Fletcher set about recording what turned out to be their final studio album accompanied by sidemen Phil Palmer, pedal steel guitarist Paul Franklin, percussionist Danny Cummings and Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1991<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The follow-up to Brothers in Arms was finally released in September 1991. On Every Street was nowhere near as popular as its predecessor, and met with a mixed critical reaction, with some reviewers regarding the album as an underwhelming comeback after a six-year break. Nonetheless, the album sold well and reached No. 1 in the UK. Session drummer Chris Whitten joined Dire Straits as they embarked on a gruelling world tour featuring 300 shows in front of some 7.1 million ticket-buying fans. This was to be Dire Straits’ final world tour; it was not as well received as the previous Brothers in Arms tour, and by this time Mark Knopfler had had enough of such huge operations. Manager Ed Bicknell is quoted as saying “The last tour was utter misery. Whatever the zeitgeist was that we had been part of, it had passed.” John Illsley agreed, saying “Personal relationships were in trouble and it put a terrible strain on everybody, emotionally and physically. We were changed by it.” This drove the band into the ground, and ultimately led to the group’s final dissolution in 1995.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1992<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Knopfler’s other contributions include writing and playing guitar on John Anderson’s 1992 single “When It Comes to You” (from his album Seminole Wind). In 1993 Mary Chapin Carpenter also released a cover of the Dire Straits song The Bug. Randy Travis released another of Knopfler’s songs, “Are We in Trouble Now”, in 1996. In that same year, Knopfler’s solo single “Darling Pretty” reached a peak of No. 87.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1993<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Following the tour, Knopfler took some time off from the music business. In 1993, he received an honorary music doctorate from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Two more Dire Straits albums were released, both live albums. On the Night, released in May 1993, documented Dire Straits’ final world tour. In 1995, following the release of Live at the BBC (a contractual release to Vertigo Records), Mark Knopfler quietly dissolved Dire Straits and launched his career as a solo artist.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1994<\/div>\n<\/div>\n